To Us
by DollieMay 19
Summary: Upon request. The third and last story in the "Wedding Bells" series. :3
1. Preparations

Disclaimer: I, Reita May, do not have any custody over the characters, settings, and/or etc. from Hamtaro. All of this awesomeness is Ritsuko Kawai's. The lucky duck. XD

To Us

Chapter One: Preparations

"Alrighty!" Panda said with a happy sigh as he pounded in the last nail. He stood and brushed off his paws by slapping them together a few times. The young man's proud smile was nothing compared to Sandy and Maxwell's grins and beams of approval on his work with re-building the crib.

"Ohh! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Panda! You're the best! You sooo have like, no clue how grateful I am!" With that, Sandy began to peck his cheek repeatedly.

"Umm…" Panda side-stepped away from his friend, blushing. "I think I do…"

Everyone in the room laughed.

"Just… Take our humble words and know that what you did is very appreciated," Maxwell said, shaking Panda's paw.

"Oh, it's noth-"

"Hey! What about me?" Someone chuckled in the doorway.

All eyes moved to where the familiar voice came from and there stood Stan, one arm draped around his wife Candace's shoulder and the other busy getting tugged at by Starlette. The groups exchanged short greetings as the toddler ran over to her parents.

"Hi, Mommy!" Both Sandy and Maxwell pet her on the head with tender looks upon their faces.

"Whew! That little girl's a lotta work! And you guys are gonna bring in ano-" His sentence was interrupted by his twin's choking bear-hug and many cheek kisses.

"Stanley, you're silly!" she giggled, getting pulled away from the confused ham by Maxwell. Candace and Panda watched in amusement, snickering.

"Sorry about that," Max apologized to both his brother-in-law and Panda.

"Nah. It's fine." Stan waved a paw. "I blame the hormones."

-.-.-

Both Sandy and Candace grimaced, pulling out a glass and a bowl form the dishwasher with their fingers. They traded disgusted glances and laughed.

"Don't men have the concept of a dishwasher by now?" the brunette asked, picking at a dried-on fleck of the other night's dinner.

"Beats me, girlfriend, but I'm totally guessing no."

Giggling, the duo of women continued with paw washing the silverware.

"You know, guys can be so careless at times."

"Mmhm," Sandy agreed. Her pregnant belly jiggled as if nodding when she lowered from her toes after putting some plates away on the shelf. Candace found this sweetly comical and let out a warm, hearty laugh.

"I mean, I can understand _Stan_ doing this, but wasn't Max helping t-" Sandy put a tight hold on her trembling friend's shoulders. Candace could feel the chilly dishwater seep into her fur, but was too scared to really notice.

"Don't you dare go there, Candace Michelle! My hubby is like, way more organized than that ham of my brother you married." Candace's eyes blinked frantically, looking to the left then right in her anxiety. She wasn't sure if Sandy was joking and she could laugh or not, but by the looks of things, that was a negative and meant she should keep quiet. And that's what she did, shivering. It was very uncharacteristic for Sandy to act like this. "Look at me, Candace!" snarled Sandy.

Staring in the other lady's fiery emerald eyes, a very deep and perplexing thought crossed Candace's mind. It was a silly one, but one that worried her so.

'_Will I end up like this if Stan and me decide on having a family…? Will everyone think I'm a monster, too?'_

The rest of Sandy's banter was drowned out.

-.-.-.

A random and makeshift meeting was called amongst the other three since Sandy had fallen asleep on the couch in hers and Maxwell's part of the house. Stan was sure to close the door to the kitchen before joining Candace and Maxwell at the counter to chat at this ample opportunity.

Maxwell watched solemnly as Stan traipsed around the room in circles until he finally sat down next to Candace, who drank weak coffee in the silence. Each and every one of them felt differently about this situation, yet all three were feeling the same worry over Sandy.

Eventually Stan spoke, after clearing his throat.

"Okay. There's something up with my sis. I mean, she didn't go through all these freakish mood swings with Star!"

"Every pregnancy is different, though," Maxwell told him. "But I do agree. Her changes in temperament are becoming more of a concern to me too, with how rapidly they come and how powerful they are…"

Candace nodded wearily.

"I think we should do something for her so she doesn't end up strangling me." She sighed, gazing down into her empty mug.

"Or smothers me with hugs and kisses! Yuck! Haha."

"Or keeps wanting to… You know…" Maxwell flushed.

Stan burst into laughter. "Who wouldn't want that?"

"I don't think I would," Candace mumbled to herself, picturing herself in Sandy's shoes dreamily. No one had heard her.

"Well, she has our child inside of her, Stan. It would just be wrong to me." The other man shot him a weird glance. "It's a personal choice, and a mutual one, that Sandy and I have made," Maxwell defended.

"Whatever."

-.-.-.

Stan and Candace would have been invisible to the world that night, or so it seemed, hadn't their overlapping bodies made a reasonably sized lump under the blankets in the dark. It bobbed up and down with every movement they made in their entanglement, proving their presence.

Between frequent kisses, Candace giggled to herself at first, laying below Stan, whom smiled timidly at her. The longer the two were intimate, the more uncontrollable her soft laughter became until Stan had had enough.

"What? Is my dick telling jokes down there?" he questioned teasingly. Candace's laughs amplified.

"Nooo…" She gave him a smile and a peck. "I'm just really happy."

"_Happy?_" Stan raised an eyebrow, earning himself a brisk pat to the cheek.

"Yes. Happy. It's been a while since we had a nice night like this."

The man nodded, kissing her forehead.

"It has," he finally replied. Three weeks was a long time to go without 'bonding' like this for them. He frowned when Candace had lifted the blanket covering them some quiet minutes later. She turned on the lamp next to their bed so that she could check the clock.

"Oh gosh! It's _that_ late already? The baby shower's tomorrow and I promised your sister I'd help! I'm so sorry, dear, but I need to get some sleep." Her eyes were full of remorse as she's said this, but Stan brought her joyful mood back with his antics of begging.

"Can't we just finish before closing up shop?" he plead gently, moving his face closer to hers, forcing her head back onto the pillow so they could share another kiss. She sighed, nuzzling him.

"Fine," she caved, turning pink. "But, hurry up," was her playfully stern warning as she tried concealing a smile.

Stan quickly shut off the light before submerging them in the blanket to continue their moment of passion.

-.-.-.

All of the women at the shower were in bunches of twos to fours scattered about the living room. Some were munching on hors-dourves or nibbling on tiny candies and all of them were chatting excitedly over which ever the topic was. Mainly the new coming baby.

Candace leaned against the wall near Sandy, drooping her head. After not getting much sleep the night before and spending all morning setting up the party, she was exhausted. Sure, she had talked with her friends a bit, and of course she ate and took part in the activities, but if the rest saw her as anti-social now, she didn't mind them not bothering her thinking that. All she wanted to do was take a nap. To curl up with Stan… To be a mother.

All of this baby shower stuff was making her pang more and more for such a blessing. But, being a mom fell into second at the time- next to sleeping. Since the party was starting to get dull, some others began to feel this way too. Especially not-so-little Penelope.

" Pashy, I'm bored!" the girl whined.

"Shush. The shower isn't over yet and don't be rude," was Pashmina's soft reply.

Sandy had noticed the dying aura her party had and quickly snuck over to Candace after dismissing herself from Bijou and Sparkle.

"Psst! Candy!" she whispered. Her only answer was a snore. "Candace!"

Candace's eyes shot open from the startle.

"Huh? What?" Seeing Sandy, she wiped a bead of cold sweat from her brow and smiled.

"I need your help for like, figuring out what to do next. I'm totally out of ideas!"

The panicking ham's friend looked at her considerately through bloodshot eyes and thought. It was getting late into the afternoon, and since all the games had been played already by then, she figured the best closer would be to open the guests' gifts.

"Why not get to the presents now?" Candace said simply, yawning.

Sandy clapped and took a hop.

"That's a _great_ idea! Thank-Q!" Candace's reward was a smooch on the cheek. "Okay, girls! It's present time!" she announced, walking towards the decorated table on which gifts had been piled on in the center of the room.

"Finally!" Penelope breathed out. Her sister narrowed her eyes at the child.

Before she got there, though, Candace had attacked her from behind with a napkin. With it, she wiped Sandy's mouth.

"Ya had a little extra lipstick on there, hon," she explained with a sheepish laugh. The tiger-striped lady glared at her.

"Well, if you wouldn't have put so much on me…" she trailed off huffily.

"You're such a tomboy, Sans." Candace giggled in a friendly manner. Sandy growled, ready to yell something at her, but decided not to embarrass herself like that in front of her other pals. Instead, she grabbed the fancy little bad that was handed to her by Pepper. Candace smiled meekly at seeing it was hers and was happy when it had quickly changed Sandy's mood with what was inside.

"Aww…!! Like, oh my gosh, Candy! Thanks so much! These PJ's are sooo totally adorable!" she cooed in a squeaky voice, eyes lighting up.

Candace let out a relieved sigh.

'_Thank God for itsy bitsy footy pajamas…'_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Author's Note: Sorry about the super long wait, everyone!! I started to write this story last summer, but never got around to getting the first chapter done! I just didn't know what to do or where to go with it until last week! I've decided to go in a different direction with it and that's what's so frustrating! I could have done that all along! lol Well, anyway, I'm not the most happy with this, but I'll be content since it's the farthest work I've gotten. I had a few later chapters written for almost a year now, but they'll have to be revised for sure, so hold on tight, all! This story is meant to be a little more... "grown-up" compared to the other two, in case you were wondering. Well... Thanks for reading! I appreciate you taking the time! And I really, really hope you enjoyed it! xoxo


	2. Happy Birthday!

Disclaimer: As always, I'm still in the process of gaining the rights to the show Hamtaro. So, until I can, I do not own it. 

AN: Hey, everybody!! Gosh! I am so, so sorry for the freakishly long wait! I had most of this chapter done, but just couldn't for the life of me figure out a nice way to put my imagined perfect ending to the stuff I already had written! Gragh! You know how frustrating it is... Haha. But anyway, I have to give a special thanks to Rocky Gems, Cherrie-Sakura, and upallnite for their super kind reviews! Your kindness really means a lot to me, since well, it's kinda obvious I don't get much feedback and even then people aren't nearly as nice as you three were! So thanks so much again! And Rocky, I was already planning on the gender of the baby/ies since FiaSE, so, sorry if I disappoint you this chapter! Cherrie, twiny, sorry I didn't tell you I started writing this before! I'll be sending you an e-mail right after I post this! upallnite, everyone reading this, I am REALLY sorry for the late update!! And for everyone again: Thank you so much for reading!! Please enjoy! It means so much that you're even reading this, so reviews are only an added bonus to me. :3 Ciao!

Chapter Two: Happy Birthday!

Stan blew a gentle puff across the top of his morning coffee. He followed the warm, faintly colored steam with his eyes until they were caught and met with somebody else's, which were as rich and deep as the drink below him. They were almost equally warm, and full of the same kind of excitement in their loving gaze from the couple's Valentine's Day rendezvous a mere three days prior. Candace stretched out her leg casually and playfully bumped her toes into Stan's. He grinned and went along with this game. Maxwell was at the end of the table, sitting next to Starlette. He was reading the paper, as always.

This had become the ritual to start each day for the family. The newlyweds in the corner, fooling around, the intellectual looking at the news, the baby drabbling and slopping around with her Veggie-O's… The only change was that Sandy had to begin her routine with a glass of milk and some hormone pills in the last months of her pregnancy. As the bottle emptied, her due date neared. She was pleased to see only about a dozen or so capsules left.

"Ugh." Sandy made a sour face. "I totally hate having to swallow pills." Candace gave a sympathetic hum and Maxwell peeked up from the newspaper, smiling weakly. Stan was focused on his wife's foot. "I mean, yeah. It's like, kinda good and all since I could like, never take one before, but still…"

With a dismayed frown, she took a big gulp of milk, popping the pill into her mouth and swallowing hard enough to hear. Starlette giggled at the funny noise her mother unintentionally made, flicking a Veggie-O off of her highchair.

Sandy looked at the other woman wearily, receiving an encouraging yet meek smile back.

"You'll be fine, hon. Ya got this far, right?" Candace said. Sandy still didn't look any more chipper than before. "Besides, it's like you even just said. You learned how to swallow a pill finally! It's sort of a… blessing in disguise!"

"…Hmph. I just like, don't wanna have to take medicine to be normal, though…"

Sandy's frown had become contagious and had spread to the faces of Candace and Maxwell. Both had stopped doing what they were doing and their expressions mirrored hers. Stan snapped back once Candace had ceased rubbing his foot with her own and joined in the conversation.

"Well, you were never really 'normal' to begin with, sis," he teased. Maxwell shot him an irritable look. "What, dude?"

"Never mind.." He sighed.

Sandy glanced downwards, eyes tearing up.

"Hmm… C'mere, girlie," her friend said, pulling out a chair and opening her arms wide to wrap around her. Sandy sat down and was hugged by Candace. "Don't feel bad," she started very quietly, maternally. "A lot of ladies have the same thing happen to them, that's why they make such a pill. And like I told you, those pills are a blessing in disguise."

Sandy sniffled, making Stan feel bad for picking on her. "But, like, I'm already waiting for my _first_ blessing to come…" she wept, staring at her round stomach.

-.-.-.

After about an hour of watching his sleeping wife, Maxwell cautiously and very gently slipped his right side out from under her leaned over form. Already his arm and thigh felt cold. They'd become so accustom to holding Sandy's body in this time, that once out in the room temperature air, they were covered in goose bumps from the sudden change. He crept around as quiet as could be to find a nice blanket to wrap around her in substitution of his arms.

As soon as this was accomplished, he closed the door to their section of the home and entered the joint kitchen. It was there he surprisingly ran into Candace.

He immediately saw her, but she didn't seem to have noticed him, so focused on icing the birthday cake for Starlette as she was. It took his voice to get her attention, but she didn't mind the company.

"Oh Candace," he began with a frail smile. "You didn't need to do that. Sandy and I were going to."

The woman smiled her trademark smile and shook her head dismissively.

"It's no big deal, Max! Sandy's sleeping anyway. Let the poor woman get some rest!" Candace laughed. "I want to make my little niece a nice birthday treat… Plus, what are cousins for?" She gave him a wink, globing on a center to her pink flower.

Maxwell sighed, knowing he couldn't persuade her out of this favor and walked over to the counter where she worked.

"It looks great. Just… Thank you," he said, embracing her. Candace gave him a shy smile in return. She felt a little bad that she couldn't hug him back, but her paws were either full or covered in gooey frosting. "You can have an extra piece," was his promised reward.

The two laughed and separated, agreeing to finish the cake decorating together.

-.-.-.

The four adults happened upon each other in the shared kitchen after completing their last-minute tasks for that evening. Stan, out of breath, had just ran in from the drugstore after Maxwell remembered they hadn't yet bought a candle. Candace and he had torn the junk drawer apart in search of one of the twins' candles from their birthday, but being short of time eventually led them to conclude that both had been tossed out in the garbage. So Stan was left with the job of getting one.

He ripped the candle out of its box and squashed it onto Candace and Maxwell's creation. One half, Candace's, was a true work of art, as neatly done and visually appealing as it was. The (sloppy) other which belonged to her co-designer Maxwell, was… Well, not. The cake's appearance brought a goofy smile if not a laugh to all who saw it. Sandy lived for this sort of thing, and would normally have run for her camera, but she was eerily still and quiet, wearing a pale face in contrast to her smile. The others figured she was still sick and didn't want to bother her with asking anything. Sandy was happy for the most part, so why ruin it?

Stan dashed over to the other side of the kitchen to flick off the lights then they all sang. Candace had welcomed back her husband by adoringly wrapping her arms around his neck from the side and resting her head on his hearer shoulder. Her smile remained on her moving mouth as she sand with the others as tears pricked at her chocolate eyes.

Towards the end of the song, which Sandy had droned along to short of heavy breath and Starlette had babbled in accompaniment with, Candace's confused eyes emptied on Stan's shoulder. Stand could feel his fur dampening and glanced over at the woman's face, petting her head comfortingly. He had this feeling of knowing exactly what she wanted. She wanted this to be their child's birthday. She just wanted a child.

Candace's tears weren't the only wetness the couple felt, for mere seconds later did it seem to the two they had stepped in a warm puddle. Before they could scan the room to figure out what the strange leak's source was, Sandy's boisterous groan interrupted Starlette blowing out the candle. The noise she made drew everyone's attention to her.

"Oh God…" Sandy grunted through clenched teeth, red in the face, as Maxwell sprinted out of the room in a frenzy.

"Sis! Why didn't ya say anything before?" Stan questioned, lifting her out of her chair and helping her through the hall to the back door.

"I didn't wanna ruin my child's birthday party!" Sandy howled through her sobs as another short wave of pain overcame her.

"Oh, Sandy…" Candace sighed with a strained smile, holding Starlette in one arm and the door for Maxwell with the other as Stan got his sister situated in the front of the car.

-.-.-.

Maxwell's paw began to cramp up with all the pressure put on it by his wife's mighty grasp. His feet went from aching to numb in their sleep from standing for nearly three hours straight. He was sweating profoundly, yet felt incredible chills. But none of this was truly noticeable to him. The feeling of being a second-time father overpowered the feelings of everything else and the amount of joy he felt was insurmountable.

He was there for her this time and this made him happy.

Sandy looked up at him in exhaustion, mouthing the words 'I can't do this'. His reassuring yet small smile made her feel like she could. Sure, her husband wasn't cheering or coaching her through the whole thing as Candace had done the last time, but his quiet, steady approach helped her along just as much.

"One last push, Mrs. Edwards. You're right about there," the doctor said cheerfully.

Sandy strained and both she and Maxwell cried as their second child, first son, had come into the world at long last.

-.-.-.

Candace and Stan knew they were allowed to come into the room when one of the nurses opened the door, greeting the three with a smile and nod. Stan hoisted Starlette up onto his shoulders then grabbed his wife's paw as they stepped in quietly.

Sandy lay motionless but had a glimmer of happiness in her eyes. Maxwell sat on the edge of the bed behind her, stroking her fur. The whole time, he kept his eyes on her.

"Gosh, you're beautiful," he told her softly as she sluggishly craned her neck to see him. The woman blushed as much as he did, her eyes droopy.

"Oh, shush…" was all she said.

Maxwell giggled, and it was apparent his happiness tripled as his daughter was gently plopped onto the bed next to him. She immediately gave her daddy a hug, creeping over toward Sandy afterwards. Maxwell looked up at the couple behind him and smiled.

"Hey guys."

"Hey," Candace and Stan chirped back simultaneously.

"So… What do we got?" Stan asked with a grin.

"A boy…" Maxwell replied with a timid, yet proud smile.

Candace squealed to herself and hopped, getting stopped by Stan as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"That's wonderful!" she finally said, waking up Sandy. "Hey, there."

"Hi," Sandy rasped with a feeble grin.

"How are you?"

"Amazing," the other woman answered laughing, getting smothered by her toddler's little kisses. The two friends exchanged smiles as a different nurse walked in with a blue bundle and handed it to Sandy. "You see that, Starry?"

Starlette nodded, like the others, staring at the infant in wonder. She curiously peeled away some of the blanker to peek at her new little brother. The baby boy looked just like his mother but with slightly darker fuzz and had his father's tall ears, unlike Starlette. They couldn't tell whose eyes he had since he kept them tightly shut.

"It's a boy, honey," Maxwell told her.

"A… boy?" the little girl asked to confirm what she'd just heard her father say.

"Yes. He's your brother."

"Brudder…"

"And he even has the same birthday as you! Isn't that neat?" Candace squeaked in excitement. The rest of the adults looked between each other and the clock and began to laugh. Starlette glanced around the room rapidly in confusion.

"Actually, yeah, Star! He does!" Stand said since he was the first one to stop and who could actually breathe. "First lesson in sharing, I guess. Hahaha!" Starlette promptly began singing her rendition of the 'Happy Birthday' song, trailing off towards the end.

"… 'Appy birfday deaw…" she gave another puzzled look to her parents. All the adults were still leaned in. "What his name, Mommy?"

Maxwell turned his attention to his wife as did the other two. Sandy stared admiringly at her brother and beamed.

"His name is Richard. Richard Stanley…"

"Ah, sis…" Stan's cheeks warmed and Candace gave one of them a kiss before he looked down bashfully. Sandy giggled. Starlette took a dramatic deep breath to indicate she was ready to finish her song and everyone gave her their full attention once more.

" 'Appy birfday deaw Wichard… 'appy birfday to us…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.


	3. It Happens

Author's Note: Ah… Hey, all! My first update since the name changed! Haha. I know it's taken me well over a year to continue this, but I didn't forget, I promise you! It's just… I had this original idea of only having two chapters, maybe three, and then I was all: "NO! You have to do a full-blown story because it seems like you just pushed them into the middle of a plot and left them hanging at the end!" Well, turns out I shouldn't have second-guessed myself. These two chapters have been waiting in the depths of my notebook for two years, even since I finished "Friendship is a Sorry Excuse" probably, and need to get out there! So… Ignore the first chapters I already put up. Or twist it into your head to make them fit to these ones. I dunno why I decided to do a story-story. I apologize greatly!

So, here… The real "To Us". A double-shot, I suppose. It's not exactly up-to-par with how I write now, but I hope you'll still like it! I did try to fix some things with it and not just copy the old version down word for word.

Thanks for being so patient and for reading, everyone.

---

Chapter One/Three: It Happens

"Okay…" Candace tried talking herself through her predicament. '_Okay, just take the box…_' She found her paw reaching for the rectangular cardboard cube. Time melted into nothing. This dizzying buzz started in her head and the sensation to faint hit her like a bolt of lightning. She swiftly wrapped her fingers around its edges and pulled her arm back with it. '_You got it! Now, just go over the to cash register…_' Her heart thumped harder. She began to perspire. A little bit of fur began to stand up on end. '_You can do this…!_' She stepped three of four tiles out of the aisle and turned back around, placed the box back on the shelf, and walked away as fast as she could without it turning into a jog.

No. She couldn't do this.

-.-.-

"So, how's it going with Rick, Sans? You holding up?"

Pashmina asked this between bites of her tea sandwich as all the women sat around the coffee table in Sandy and Maxwell's side of the home.

The young mother smiled. Her infant son was still asleep in her arms as she rocked him gently.

"Oh yeah. Ya know, he's not really much of a crier."

"Really?" she asked with surprise

"Yup! Rick's only woken up and Max up a few times now."

"Well, that's good."

"Ookyoo! Crying babies are annoying!" Penelope burst out. Her little cookie crumb-covered face was scrunched up.

The ladies laughed at her friendlily. Sandy held hers back a little to keep from startling the tiny thing she was cradling.

"Vell, vous cried a lot as an eenfant," Bijou teased. Penelope looked taken aback.

"…So?"

"Zhere's nozing vrong vith eet. All babies cry."

"Yeah, Penny. It's like, how they talk."

"Ohh…" The little girl seemed to understand this for only a brief second. "Why don't they try to talk like us harder?"

Another burst of giggles came from the women, finally subduing after a moment.

"Hmm… Speaking of talking, I haven't spoken with Candace in a while." Pashmina said.

"Oh. Her and Stan are a little… _busy_ lately," Sandy giggled coyly.

"Ooh… Zo, Zey're trying to ztart a vamily too, non?"

The tiger-striped ham merely smiled in response.

-.-.-

Candace walked out of the store weakly with a plastic bag balled up in her paw. She felt more foolish with each shaky step she took. Sighs of relief came out of her every few strides until she had calmed herself completely, thrown away the blue sack, and made sure the secret item was securely hidden in the smallest compartment of her purse that it could possibly fit in.

'Grr… That was all you had to do, do you realize that?' She punched herself on the inside. 'It's not like the cashier cared anyway. This probably always happens! And besides, you're not some silly teenager! You're married! Ach!'

So, one problem was solved- the getting of it. But, she had a new obstacle to face- disposing of it after its use so her husband wouldn't know before she could tell him. Actually, just plain getting herself to use it was the challenge.

-.-.-

"Hey, Sandy."

"Oh! Hi, Candace!" she replied cheerily.

"'Ello, Candy."

"Ham-ha!" Bijou and Penelope greeted.

A small gasp left her.

"Uhh… Hi, girls!"

"Where were you?" Pahsmina inquired.

"Shopping."

"So… What'd ya get, girlie…?" An eager Sandy asked, standing up and handing Rick over to Pashmina.

"Um-Nothing, really!" Her sister-in-law looked confused, as did the others. Was it just her or did she…

"But, you said-" … really have to pee?

"Window shopping! I meant _that_! You know, it was more like browsing than actual shopping…" she trailed off with a nervous laugh as her stomach began to ache.

"Um. Okay…" the other woman mused. Yeah. She had to go. Pretty badly now.

"Yeah! Haha. I need to go to the restroom now, though. Excuse me, ladies!" Candace darted out of the kitchen where she'd been talking to the others from and ran upstairs into hers and Stan's part of the home, slamming and locking the bathroom door. Now was her chance to get it over with.

-.-.-

"Well, Max, we better get a move on. I'm sure the company is gone and our wives are wondering where we're at." Stan began walking to the revolving doors of the theatre.

"Oh. Yes. You're probably right," he agreed. They left the large building together, Maxwell behind Stan. "Thanks again for coming with me to see this! Gosh! What a wonderful Civil War re-enactment! It truly was enjoyable, was it not?" Maxwell's grin was so genuine, Stan didn't want to ruin it for him by telling him what he really thought of it.

"Err… Yeah, man! Those dudes were awesome! Really knew how to put on a show!" He was surprised his sweaty brow hadn't given him away yet. In reality, he had fallen asleep for most of the performance. His friend had never noticed.

"I know! Weren't the actors playing the colonels talented?"

Stan sweat dropped.

"Sure…"

-.-.-

Candace did not wonder where the men were at. She padded around in the bathroom with bare feet, continuing her pacing. She thought the hard parts were over with. She'd bought the damn thing, went on it, and was waiting for it to turn colors. What she did wonder about was if it was ready.

Had five minutes been up? What time was it? Why the hell didn't they keep a clock in the bathroom? What was the need for such a clock anyway? When would a clock in the bathroom be useful-or necessary? For times like these!

And, what sort of system was this? One urinates on a stick and it turns colors. How in the hell is that going to tell you whether or not you are- Oh**. 'Tests Chemicals in Sample'**. The package said it all. She still thought going to a clinic to get this confirmed was better, but she was almost too scared to even do this…

-.-.-

"Hey, bro!" Sandy waved upon seeing Stan. Maxwell followed in and kissed her.

"Where's everyone?" Stan questioned casually, more wondering about his wife.

"The girls left about an hour ago. Star and Rick are napping, and Candace is over at your place."

"Oh? I thought she'd be over here with you," Maxwell hummed in confusion.

"Yeah. She was for a little bit. But, like, she said she had to use the bathroom and I totally haven't seen her since."

"I'll go check in on her," Stan said, leaving the room with a solemn face.

-.-.-.

"Oh gosh…" Candace breathed heavily. "I can't look at it…" That woozy feeling was back. She glanced over at the sink from her spot on the closed toilet out of the corner of her eye but couldn't see anything. Using two fingers, she picked it up cautiously, closed her eyes tight and took in a shaky breath, hanging her head down.

'_Okay… If it's negative, we'll just keep trying. No big deal. But, if it's positive… How am I going to tell Stan?_'

A knock at the door broke her from her thoughts, forcing her eyes to open.

"Babe, is everything alright?"

The woman choked out an inaudible answer. Her face may have been a bright shade of red, but the little thing set in her lap was reading blue.


End file.
